Authors

Abstract

This research was presented by representatives from the Alaska chapter of the American College of Sports Medicine.

Inadequate sleep quality is a complicated risk factor associated with obesity. Physical activity can influence sleep quality and this relationship is further complicated by the changing light/dark cycles that accompany the drastic changes in Alaskan seasons. Within the NANA region of Alaska, a privately sponsored activity program, SkiKu, promotes healthy lifestyles in children from kindergarten to 12th grade through Nordic skiing and running. PURSPOSE: Therefore, we hypothesized sleep duration and efficiency would increase in Alaska Native youth from the acute reinforcement of cross-country skiing instruction provided by SkiKu. METHODS:A total of 15 children (7 males and 8 females) ages 10-15 from Shungnak, Alaska were recruited and enrolled to participate in the study. The GT3X+ ActiGraph accelerometer was worn a total of 10 nights, split by baseline (6 nights), and following SkiKu instruction (4 nights) in April 2014. Total counts, minutes in bed, sleep time, efficiency, wake after sleep onset, and number of awakenings were calculated using the Sadeh algorithm for sleep within the ActiLife v6 software. RESULTS: There were no changes observed among any of the sleep variables in the acute response to the acute reinforcement of the SkiKu instruction. However, significant differences were observed for total sleep time (p